Update

Well compared to my last post I don't think anything can match the excitement that we had last week but we have had a lot going on. The car wreck put a bit of a damper on our plans and we were all still pretty sore so we decided to take it easy once we got back to Thessaloniki. On our three days that we had left with my Dad's sister, we took a quick trip out to the beach at Chalkidiki, spent a day at Mt. Olympus (and in a beautiful village nearby), and went down to the city center to show my aunt and my cousin around a little bit. Tuesday night we had the English class that my parents facilitate for the refugees in the city. That class is quickly becoming my favorite part about my time here and I know it is one of my parents' favorite things as well. The guys are very sweet and very eager to learn.

On Wednesday afternoon at almost exactly the same time, my Dad's sister and her daughter left by train and my Mom's sister arrived at the airport. She will be staying for about a month so I am looking forward to spending some time with her and may even get to take a few side trips with her (we're thinking a Greek island cruise or a trip to Santorini next week!) We haven't done anything big with her yet but since she is staying for a longer time we are able to take it easy and relax a little bit.

Tonight, a young woman from the English class name Kamela, her 18-month old son Ali, and a young man name Ali that helps us translate into Farsi came over for dinner. Kamela cooked us a delicious Afghani meal that included beef, chicken, a salad, and rice with carrots and raisins, although I have no idea what the dishes were called. My dad took a few pictures that I will try to post as soon as I get them from him.

As you can probably tell, I'm rather proud of my black eye. If I had other injuries from the wreck I probably would not be nearly as happy about it but since I have practically no pain associated with it, I see it more as an interesting conversation starter. I've decided that I could make up some pretty interesting stories about it if I wanted to, especially since my mom has now developed a black eye of her own.

I'm posting a picture of my new, improved black eye, although the pictures never quite seem to do it justice. I can tell it's healing because it now has that pretty (and by pretty I mean disgusting) yellowish tint around the outside of it. If nothing else, my eye is certainly colorful!

If you prefer a prettier picture, here is a picture of my mom and I on our visit to Delphi (pre-wreck) near the temple to Apollo with a beautiful view behind us.